TT Income stands for Take-home & Tax Income.

The two Ts are the two numbers every paycheck is really about: what you take home, and the tax and withholding that sit between your gross pay and that deposit. TT Income — The Take-Home Desk — explains the lines in between. Not careers, not job hunting: the pay stub itself, and the moments when it changes, such as a new job, a last day, a bonus, a raise or a payout from an app.

How the desk works a line

1. Start on the stub. Every line opens with the stub row it explains, highlighted.
2. Work the mechanics. Which wages a tax applies to, what order the deductions come out in, when the money moves.
3. Close on the net effect. A dollar figure for one paycheck, or “Timing only” when the money moves but the total doesn’t.
4. Run it both ways. When a choice changes the result, the same paycheck is shown under each option, side by side.

Where the numbers come from

Federal payroll rules come from IRS Publication 15 (Employer’s Tax Guide), Publication 15-T (federal income tax withholding methods) and Publication 15-B (fringe benefits), and from Department of Labor fact sheets for wage and garnishment rules. Every figure is tied to the year it applies to. Where a rule depends on your state, we explain the mechanics and point you to your state labor department or tax agency instead of guessing. The stubs on this site are illustrative — Example Co. and its employee are made up, and the federal and state withholding amounts are placeholders.

What we are not

We are writers who explain payroll, not your payroll department, your tax preparer or your lawyer. Nothing here is advice for your situation. If your stub looks wrong, the first call is to your employer’s payroll contact, with the stub in hand.

How the site is paid for

TT Income is published by TT Income Media. Our email newsletter includes offers and promotions from third-party partners, and that is how the desk is funded. The lines on this site do not carry partner links. The Privacy Policy explains how subscriber information is handled.

Write to the desk at hello@ttinc.net.